The Vatican reiterates its “absolute opposition to any form of euthanasia and assisted suicide”

ROME, (EUROPA PRESS) – The Pope received in the Vatican the guide ‘Small lexicon of the end of life’, prepared by the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV), which addresses some bioethical issues. The head of this Vatican body, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, made it clear that, with this document, the “absolute opposition to any form of euthanasia and assisted suicide” is reiterated.

In an interview with Vatican media, Paglia said that “the Church reiterates its absolute opposition to any form of euthanasia and assisted suicide,” to clarify the doubts raised after the publication of the 88-page text at the beginning of last July, which was interpreted by some sectors as a softer stance on euthanasia.

Among other new developments, the document – which was delivered in an audience to Pope Francis on Thursday at the Apostolic Palace – opens the door to suspending food and hydration in some cases for terminally ill patients, although Paglia explained that this measure is not new. “I remember that already in 1957 Pius XII – as stated in the Lexicon – affirmed the lawfulness of suspending ventilation if certain serious conditions were present,” she said.

She also recalled that in 2007, the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith recognised that these two criteria of nutrition and hydration – which can be part of the definition of disproportionate treatment – can be lawfully interrupted (or not started) when they cause “excessive heaviness or significant physical discomfort”. In any case, the Church asks that an assessment be made which, as far as possible, involves the patient.

The volume, presented at the beginning of July, summarises in 22 sections the Church’s position on several delicate questions of bioethics and asks, for example, how forced hydration and nutrition should be regarded in patients at the end of their life or whether it is permissible, in certain specific cases, to suspend them. For the Vatican, “concrete cases” must be considered “with discernment”.